Clementina (zarzuela)
| Clementina | |
|---|---|
| Zarzuela by Luigi Boccherini | |
Pencil drawing of Boccherini by Étienne Mazas after a portrait bust | |
| Librettist | Ramón de la Cruz |
| Language | Spanish |
| Premiere | 3 January 1787 Palace Puerta de la Vega, Madrid |
Clementina, although wrongly and popularly known as La Clementina,[a] is a zarzuela in two acts by Luigi Boccherini. The Spanish-language libretto was by Ramón de la Cruz. It premiered on 3 January 1787 at the Palace Puerta de la Vega, Madrid.[3]
Clementina is the only complete stage work by Boccherini. It was written when the zarzuela was close to the end of its period of greatest success, before this genre, at the beginning of the 19th century, was nearly forgotten in favour of the Italian opera. The librettist of Clementina, Ramón de la Cruz, had attempted to introduce innovations in the zarzuela, using folk elements instead of the more usual mythological subjects.[4] The music is predominantly cheerful and turned towards comical sides, with pathetic fragments when it tries to describe unrequited love.
This work was written on commission of the Duchess Osuna-Benavente, a patron of the arts and lover of music who owned a private orchestra, under whose protection De La Cruz worked. Clementina premiered in Madrid in the palace of the countess, probably performed by amateur singers.[4] Boccherini composed the music in less than one month.[5] A further performance of Clementina took place in 1799, again in Madrid, in the Coliseo de los Caños del Peral, this time with very known artists: Catalina Tordesillas (Clementina), Manuela Monteis (Damiana), Joaquina Arteaga (Narcisa), Lorenza Correa (Cristeta), Vicente Sanchez (Don Urbano) and Manuel Garcia Parra (Don Lazzaro).[4]
In modern times, Clementina was revived in Venice (La Fenice, 18 September 1951)[6] in Munich (Cuvilliés Theatre, 1960)[6] and in Aranjuez (Spain). A further performance was produced in Lucca in 2005.[7] Opera Southwest is scheduled to give the American premiere in Albuquerque on 6 April 2025.[8]
Roles
| Role | Voice type |
|---|---|
| Don Clemente, widowed and very rich gentleman | spoken role |
| Doña Clementina, supposed daughter of Don Clemente | soprano |
| Doña Narcisa, daughter of Don Clemente, younger than Clementina | soprano |
| Doña Damiana, tutor of Clementina and Narcisa | mezzo-soprano |
| Don Urbano, Portuguese gentleman, suitor of Clementina | tenor |
| Marquis de la Ballesta, suitor of Narcisa | spoken role |
| Don Lazzaro, music teacher | baritone |
| Cristeta, housemaid | soprano |
| A page | spoken role |
Synopsis
The daughters of Don Clemente, Clementina and Narcisa, are courted respectively by Don Urbano and by the marquis de la Ballesta, but they do not accept the marriage proposals of their suitors. Don Clemente reveals that Clementina is not his natural daughter, but was adopted when she was a little child. Gradually, Don Urbano realizes that Clementina is his sister, of whom he had lost all trace and for whom he has been in search for long time. The opera ends with the marriages between Don Urbano and Narcisa, the marquis and Clementina, Don Lazzaro and Cristeta.
Orchestration and structure
Clementina is scored for the following instruments: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings.
Clementina includes the overture, 12 arias, 2 obbligato recitatives and 6 ensembles, plus the dialogues.
Recordings
Clementina: Fiorella Carmen Forti |
Don Urbano: Juan Oncina |
Clementina: Elena Rizzieri |
Don Urbano: Ugo Benelli |
2008: Pablo Heras-Casado, La Compañia del Principe, Música Antigua Aranjuez MAA 008. New Musical Edition by Juan Pablo Fernández-Cortés.[11]
| |
Clementina: María Hinojosa |
Don Urbano: David Alegret |
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ It is common to mention the title as La Clementina, but this only originated in the Italian translations of this zarzuela (translations that came after Boccherini's composition). The original title of this work, as it was first created in Spain, is indeed Clementina and not La Clementina. See the official records in the Biblioteca Nacional de España[1][2]
References
- ^ "Libretto"
- ^ "Library record, 2-CD recording from Música Antigua Aranjuez Ediciones". 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ Fernández-Cortés, Juan Pablo (May 2012). "¿Qué quita a lo noble un airecito de maja? National and gender identities in the zarzuela Clementina (1786) by Luigi Boccherini and Ramón de la Cruz". Early Music. 40 (2). Oxford University Press: 223–236. doi:10.1093/em/cas046.
- ^ a b c Marín
- ^ Coli 2005.
- ^ a b Galleni Luisi 1969
- ^ Toschi, David. "Lucca – Villa Oliva – San Pancrazio: La Clementina" (in Italian). OperaClick. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Salazar, David (15 February 2025). "Opera Southwest to Showcase Boccherini's Doña Clementina". OperaWire. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
- ^ "Luigi Boccherini – La Clementina". Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "Luigi Boccherini – La Clementina – Angelo Ephrikian (1965)". Operaclass.com. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Webber, Christopher. "Clementina. Luigi Boccherini". Zarzuela.net. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
Sources
- Coli, Remigio (2005). Luigi Boccherini. La vita e le opere (in Italian). Lucca: Maria Pacini Fazzi. ISBN 8872466792.
- Galleni Luisi, Leila (1969). "Boccherini, Luigi (Ridolfo Luigi)". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 11. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- Marín, Miguel Ángel. "La zarzuela Clementina di Luigi Boccherini" (PDF) (in Italian). [Campus Virtual de la Universidad de La Rioja]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
Further reading
- de la Cruz, Ramón (2003). Profeti, Maria Grazia; Lepri, Nicoletta; Marín, Miguel Angel (eds.). Clementina. Volume 4 di La traduzione (in Italian). Alinea Editrice. ISBN 9788881257805. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- Speck, Christian; Sadie, Stanley (2001). "Boccherini (Ridolfo) Luigi". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.03337. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
External links
- La Clementina, G.540 (Boccherini): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- de la Cruz, Ramón (1788). Teatro o Coleccion de los saynetes. Retrieved 10 February 2015. Includes full Spanish text of Clementina.